But that’s the easy task. We here at Hang Time will do the heavy lifting and boil that down to our Top Five, including some changes:

No. 1: 1996 Chicago Bulls – Nobody’s really going to argue with the consensus top choice, are they? Michael Jordan fresh out of retirement and at the top of his game, joined by fellow future Hall of Famers Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, the Bulls set the NBA record with 72 wins and outscored opponents by an average of 12.2 per game. These Bulls knew they were going to win every time they walked onto the court and usually were right.

No. 2: 1967 Philadelphia 76ers– It was a much smaller NBA back then, a more rugged, tougher league and the toughest thing about it was that you had to go through Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics. These Sixers did it with a lineup of three members of the NBA’s 50 Greatest in Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham and a roster that also included Chet Walker, Luke Jackson, Wali Jones and Matt Guokas. They rolled to a 68-13 record, took out the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals and beat the Warriors with Rick Barry and Nate Thurmond in The Finals.

No. 3: 1986 Boston Celtics – They had five future Hall of Famers – Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton – who played with an intelligence that matched their intensity and confidence. Walton was able to finally shake off years of foot problems to back up Parish and Walton’s passing skills seemed to take Bird to an even higher level. The Celtics rolled to an NBA record 40-1 home mark during the regular season and by the time they reached The Finals against a young and powerful Houston team with Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, the outcome was practically a foregone conclusion.

No. 4: 1987 Los Angeles Lakers– With all due respect to the 1972 Lakers and their record 33-game winning streak, they and the NBA never had anything like a 6-foot-9 point guard in Magic Johnson. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, this is was the season the Lakers went 65-17, won 10 of 11 playoff games in the first three rounds and had a relatively easy time beating Bird and the Celtics in The Finals 4-2. Magic’s baby sky hook won Game at Boston Garden to send them on their way and, when it was over, Pat Riley promised the Lakers would win it again the next year. And they did.

No. 5: 1965 Boston Celtics – Including coach Red Auerbach, there were eight Hall of Famers in the locker room – Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Tom Heinsohn and a rookie named John Thompson. Sam Jones averaged 25.9 points per game to lead the way. But this was a Celtics team that was all about defense with K.C. Jones at the point and Russell in the middle. Russell averaged 24.1 rebounds per game. They handled the Lakers easily in The Finals, 4-1.

461 Comments

Reading all the suggestions, makes me lol. All the Jordan championship teams, the celtics that started the string with Bill Russell, and the Magic Johnson Lakers championship teams. With the Dr. J lead 76’ers………

It seems since the ’96 Bulls got the top spot with their dominating 72 wins, we don’t pay any attention to the ’97 Bulls. They really fell off and only had 69 wins and lost a whole 4 games in the playoffs, where the 96 team only dropped 3.

The fact that the Finals that year were so close and Jordan needed his flu game to pull out Game 5 doesn’t diminish how good the Bulls were, it actually shows just how good the Jazz were that year. In my opinion, there hasn’t been a better runner up since.

Whatever happened to the 2001 Lakers which swept their opponents in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs and losing only once to then MVP Allen Iverson’s Sixers in the Finals? They still hold the NBA Playoffs Record 15-1 W-L. To me, that should be in the Top Five…

Oh so Jordan didnt have Pippen, Rodman, and Kerr. Bird didnt have Mchale, Parish, Johnson, and Walton. Magic didnt have Karim and Worthy. The Celtics of the 60’s had 5 hall of famers at one point. Do your research before posting.

how about the 2011 Dallas Mavericks.. they played a great season (2010-2011).. they conquered and send em opponents shocked and crying.. they beat the young and athletic BLAZERZ, shamed the 2time Champion LAKERS, crushed the young and promising THUNDERS, and to top it all off, they denied championship and teached HUMILTY to LECHOKEs MIAMI HEAT.. and they did that with the help of a 33 year old Lone Superstar.. (of course they got other superstars but they are past their PRIME)..

Great team… Mavericks proven that team basketball wins against pure athleticism. LeBron knows so little about basketball, like Kobe before his MVP season. Heat were just lucky the Celtics had serve injuries to Rondo and Daniels and traded the wrong players… before that Boston was 3-0 in regular season against Miami!

Shaq dominated the league at this position since 1999-00 because there hasn’t been any rival of his caliber out there any more. In his first 7 years in the league he won nothing but got swept out of the playoffs 5 times! At the time he was an MVP caliber, guys like Antonio Davis, Dale Davis, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Jamaal Magloire were All-Stars but no match for Shaq.

But I agree that the 2000 Lakers were great, I’d maybe rank them at #10 on my list.

PS: You just can’t compare Russell and Shaq on PPG, it’s every players task to do whatever it takes to make your team win and Russell did just THAT. He is the GREATEST competitor ever!

Surely the 2000 Lakers deserve a spot somewhere here? They were able to three-peat, which three of the five teams on your list were unable to do. And while they only have two future hall of famers they are quite well-rounded, with Glen Rice, Ron Harper, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, AC Green, Rick Fox, and others. Simply because they’re from the post-Jordan era doesn’t mean they do not deserve more credit than has been given. It would be hard to argue that Shaq and Kobe are not both top-10 all-time players. Both have had more storied and successful careers than many other regularly placed in that echelon. The only hall of fame centers aside from Shaq to three-peat are Mikan and Russell, and neither posted Shaq’s numbers. Kobe is almost certainly the second greatest shooting guard after Jordan. It’s simply unfair to the 2000 Lakers to exclude them. I can see no reason for doing so other than a preference for raising the profile of older teams. I would expect the 2000 Lakers to be able to not only compete but win consistently in any era. They would, at minimum, give any team mentioned above a run for their money.

1. 1985-86 Boston Celtics
(I watched so many games of that team and was amazed of their playing style almost every single night)
2. 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
3. 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers
4. 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers
5. 1992-93 Chicago Bulls
(much better than the later bulls teams despite their worse record in the regular season – in fact the 1993 bulls proved they could handle all playing styles: Knicks/Cavaliers (defence), Hawks/Suns (offense) and won against GREAT teams)
(also mention the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons, 1993-94/1994-95 Houston Rockets and 2007-08 Boston Celtics)

Best teams to not win the championship: 1992-93 New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns

1. 2008 boston celtics – the 1st time they have been together and their first ring in their career
2. 1991 chicago bulls – 1st jordan ring
3. 1969 boston celtics – bill russell as head coach and player beating elgin baylor wilt chamberlain and jerry west in game 7 in lakers
4. 2004 detroit pistons – upset star-studded lakers
5. 1998 chicago bulls – the shot by michael jordan..

6) 2000-2001 lakers (dominated the entire playoffs with shaq-kobe back then )
7) 1997-1998 jazz ( challenged the jordan led bulls into an exciting 6 game finals series)
8) 1998-1999 spurs ( for me that team had the most formidable froncourt duo in duncan-robinson)
9) 2007-2008 celtics ( won the title in the first year of the big three —>i wouldv’e put 10-11 heat in this have they won the championship )
10) 2003-2008 pistons ( 5 consecutive conference finals appearances and a championship in 04 )

1. 1995-1996 Bulls
Best record ever in the league, led by the great Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Rodman. Simply the best

2. 1985-1986 Celtics
Five Hall of Famers on this squad, with Larry Bird leading the way. He was still playing at an MVP-caliber, while McCale, Parish, Johnson, and Walton all contributed heavily. And they won the championship to boot.

3. 1972-1973 Lakers
With the likes of Chamberlain, West, and Baylor, its hard not to put this amazing team in the top 5, especially when they hold the 2nd best record ever.

4. 1966-1967 Sixers
Wilt Chamberlain led this team all the way to 68-13 record and an NBA Championship. Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham also contributed to this awesome team.

5. 1994-1995 Rockets
Everyone has at least one oddball on their list, and this is mine. Struggling through the season and only managing to get the 6th seed does not bode well for a defending champion. However, Olajuwon, Drexler, and the rest of the Rockets were determined to defend their trophy. Thus, the Houston Rockets took down four 50+ win teams, the first and only to do so, without home court advantage. The Rockets defeated these great teams, each led by even greater players (Stockton/Malone, Barkley, Robinson, O’Neal). The Rockets gave new meaning to the word “Clutch”, and earned the city the nickname of “Clutch City”. The Rockets no doubt had the heart of a champion, and for that, they deserve a place on the Top 10 NBA teams, if not Top 5.

I don’t think the ’96 Bulls was the best Bulls team, Jordan didn’t get his legs back until ’97. I also don’t think any team since Jordan’s first retirement deserves to be on the same floor as any of the old schoolers because “the league” became a supermodel runway show once Jordan showed Stern and his minions how much money they could make through TV, apparel, marketing and exposure. Also the ’87 Lakers should be ahead of the ’86 Celtics, if it wasn’t for Ralph Sampson’s miracle shot the Lakers woulda beat the C’s just like they did the year after.

The ’72 Lakers should have been mentioned in the top 3, at least, if not ALL-TIME #1. What could have happened if Elgin Baylor didn’t get injured , and eventually retired? To win 33 straight might stand in the records book for a long, long time. And all that happened after Baylor retired that year. Remove one superstar in an NBA team today, and that would equate to a sure losing season.

Well the 2011 Mavs would be on that list, if all players were still in their prime.
Just imagine:
Dirk
J Kidd
Marion
Terry
(a healthy) Butler
Chandler
If Marion still would be that double-double-machine, and Kidd that triple-double-machine of earlier days, that would be a heck of a team 😉
plus they would have a great bench with Barea, Beaubois, Haywood, Stevenson
of course they would not play together, if they all were still a bit younger…
oh but I forgot the most important factor:
THE CUSTODIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just because you are part of the brainwashed Jordan era of reporters does not mean we are all sheep!

The 90’s era of basketball offered the worst talent level in the history of the NBA. The 96 Bulls are not one of the top teams of all-time because the league they dominated was really weak, they had no center and their point guard was weak.
Of course they won the most games in history, expansion had watered down the league there were no great teams.

How did the ’90’s have the worst level of talent? Most of the ’80’s draft picks were in their prime and players like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Alonzo Mourning, Rasheed Wallace, Grant Hill, Vince Carter, Toni Kukoc and Paul Pierce stared in that decade. Hate to break it to you but the reason the league expanded was because there was a lot of talent. Think about this; is it easier to gameplan against 22 teams or 26 to 28 teams? The Bulls beat teams in the finals with players like Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Gary Payton, John Stockton and Karl Malone. That was certainly not watered down talent. Sure would be nice if people paid attention….

The 2001 Lakers! They ran the table in the playoffs with the exception of one loss to Philly in the finals. They won 31 out of 32 games at the end of the year, and during the playoffs and the start of the following season! The 71-72 Lakers. 33 wins in a row and a championship. Both teams should be in the top 5 greats, without question!

The 1972 Lakers and the 2001 Lakers should be in the list; without a doubt. Cmon; 33 wins in a row and a championship! And the 2001 Lakers almost running the table in the playoffs. Only one loss to the sixers in the finals. And I think that team also won something like 31 out of 32 games, both before , during the playoffs, and the start of the fall season. And you include neither one in the list!!! Give me a break!

And the 1987 7 seed Sonics got to the Western Confernce Finals because the Western Conference in the 1980’s was the WORST CONFERENCE IN ANY DECADE by far in sports history. So getting to the WCF in the 1980’s isn’t really saying much. The point is, is that writers like Hollinger get away with lines like this. “The Lakers beat the Celtics in six, and for the playoffs as a whole outscored their opponents by 205 points — the best of any team on this list” And he uses that stat to place the 1987 Lakers over the 1986 Celtics. What Hollinger doesn’t write is that 190 of those points came against the 10th, 14th, & 15th best teams in the league, 5 7 & 8 seeds, under .500. Why doesn’t he write that? Because he wants to put the team he likes on top. He doesn’t want to give you the real stats. He wants to tell his side of the story(205 points) instead of giving the real facts and details(5,7,8 seeds). The 1987 Lakers do not belong anywhere near the 1986 Celtics on Top 10 lists. No team that plays under .500 competition to get to the finals round belongs on Top 10 best teams of all-time lists. And that is a Fact.

Yes those 7 seed Sonics were a cake walk. That is what a 7 seed with a record under .500 in a conference finals vs a team that made the Finals 8 times in the 1980’s is. A cake walk. You wrote that everything has to be earned in sports and there is a huge difference between playing teams with a record under .500 in the playoffs and playing the 2nd, 3rd or 4th best teams in the league. HUGE DIFFERENCE. Don’t you realize how absurd that is. Playing under .500 competition in the playoffs. I’ll give you some examples. In 108 years since the World Series began in baseball, NOT 1 TEAM even made the playoffs with a record under .500. NOT 1. In 45 years since the Super Bowl began in football, NOT 1 TEAM even made the playoffs with a record under .500. NOT 1. Teams with records under .500 DO NOT belong in the playoffs, and to think you can get to the finals round by playing nothing but teams under .500 that is the utltimate absurdity. Were the 1987 Lakers great? Sure they were, but they are NO WHERE NEAR the top teams of all-time. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

First of all, the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks made the playoffs last year and defeated the defending champs…. duh! Second, the playoffs are a different season. You place a lot of emphasis on records. How many times has a 1 seed lost in any sport? LOTS. The only reason teams under .500 reach the playoffs is because the NBA is greedy and expanded the format to include more teams. Personally I think there should only be 3 rounds in the playoffs because it is a long enough season as it is. Great examples of low seeds winning titles: ’94-’95 Houston Rockets, ’97 Denver Broncos and 2010 Green Bay Packers. So for one season sure the Celtics kicked butt, but they never even had consecutive titles that decade. So that is the best ever? LOL

So those 7 seed Sonics must have been a real cake walk since they managed to get to the western conference finals. They had to beat a 2 seed in the 1st round. There are no gimmies in sports, everything has to be earned.

Trivia Question:What is the only team in sports history to get to the Finals by playing teams in the playoffs with a combined record of under .500?
Answer:1986-87 Lakers. Oh no wait, there are 2 teams to do it, that’s right Lakers again 1983-84.
Only 2 teams in SPORTS HISTORY to get to the championship round by playing straight fluff in the playoffs.
1984 Lakers:8 Seed Kings 38-44, 4 Seed Mavs 43-39, 6 Seed Suns 41-41. Combined record:122-124 .496
1987 Lakers:8 Seed Nuggets 37-45, 5 Seed Warriors 42-40, 7 Seed Sonics 39-43. Combined record:118-128 .480.
From 1984-1987 the Lakers played 12 teams in the Western Conference playoffs, ONLY 2 teams won more than 44 games, that’s right ONLY 2, the 52-30 1985 Nuggets and the 51-31 1986 Rockets. What a joke.
-Sincerely #1 50-1 Big Boys.

Sure, a 50-1 record for the Celtics at home in regular season and playoffs combined for ONE season is phenomenal. Which is more impressive, 50-1 at home or 87-13 for a season? Since you love stats so much, how about this one…. Magic’s Lakers 2-1 over Bird’s Celtics in the finals. Teams generally have a nucleus of stellar players for a decade or so. So, with the nucleus intact, you’re still stating the ’80’s Celtics were superior to the ’80’s Lakers? Okay, then I suppose the ’90’s Bulls and ’60’s Celtics were inferior too. LOL

Its very simple. From 1984-1987 the Celtics went 44-27 in the playoffs against teams with 45 or more wins, while the Lakers went 16-14. Not only did the Celtics play more than twice as many playoff games against quality teams they won nearly 3 times as many games. The 1980’s Celtics & Lakers are very similair and no team is really superior. However as far as single season teams go the 1986 Celtics are the best ever and better than any 1980’s Lakers team. It really isn’t close. I would give the 1986 Celtics 82-18 and edge over the 1996 Bulls 87-13 because there were 6 more teams in the league in 1996 than 1986 and expansion led to the Bulls winning 70. Had there been 23 teams in 1996 like there was in 1986 the Bulls would not have won 70 games. Also in 1986 the Celtics were on there way to winning 69 when Dr. J got lucky and got a rebound off a missed free throw and hit a 3 to win the game. The 1986 C’s lost 5 games by 2 or less points. 50-1 at home equals #1 of all-time. A 50-1 home record clinches an NBA Championship every single time and no team will ever accomplish that record again.

Look at what Hollinger writes in regards to the 1987 Lakers being ranked by him over the 1986 Celtics. “This L.A. team nudged ahead of Boston by virtue of winning 65 games in the regular season and then trashing the West — 11 wins in 12 games — to make the Finals. ” Wow Hollinger 11 wins in 12 games huh??? Did those 12 games happen to come against the 8 seed 37-45 Nuggets, 5 seed 42-40 Warrios and 7 seed 39-43 Sonics?? Yes. They did. They sure trashed those 5,7 & 8 seeds, didn’t they. Then Hollinger writes about the 1986 Celtics “They rank behind L.A. mostly because their victory margin wasn’t as strong in the playoffs”. Do you think playing the 5,7 & 8 seeds has something to do with that? People are so stupid nowadays. They mix facts with fiction then they start making up stories to put the team they like on top. I’m going to write this in Caps one more time. THE 1987 LAKERS PLAYED THE 8 SEED 37-45 NUGGETS, 5 SEED 42-40 WARRRIOS, & 7 SEED 39-43 SONICS TO GET TO THE FINALS. THAT IS THE WORST COMPETITION TO GET TO THE FINALS IN SPORTS HISTORY!!!! WAKE UP PEOPLE.

Anybody who puts the 1986-87 Lakers over the 1985-86 Celtics is seriously joke status.
The Celtics were better in almost every stat you could think of. Higher PPG Celtics +9.4 Lakers +9.3, Higher SOS Celtics 9.06, Lakers 8.32. Celtics led the league in 6 different categories, Lakers 3. Celtics Top 5 in 22 different categories, Lakers Top 5 in 14. Celtics had more wins 67, Lakers 65. Celtics only needed 80 more free throws, Lakers needed 300 more free throws, same playoff record 15-3. Roughly the same +/-PPG in the playoffs. Here is the thing that most people don’t understand and now hopefully you will. The 1986-87 Lakers had BY FAR the easiest road to the Finals in NBA History. Look who they played. 1987 Lakers played the 8 seed 37-45 Nuggets, the 5 seed 42-40 Warriors and the 7 seed 39-43 Sonics to get to the Finals. That is the worst possible combination of teams to get to the Finals EVER!! What a joke!!! 1987 Lakers didn’t even play a 2,3 or 4 seed to get to the Finals. Don’t ever write 1987 Lakers over 1986 Celtics EVER AGAIN. 50-1 at home 1986 Boston Celtics PWNED.

Jordan and the Bulls without a doubt can be listed as ‘all-time”…. you must be stupid enough to say there are other players or teams that are better than them. but honestly, i and most of us here only watch NBA from the beginning of the Modern Era. no disrespect to the hall of famers, but i still put my blue chip on guys like Kobe, Shaq, Duncan but not LeBron, at least until he made his own dynasty and left a legacy behind.

WINNERS WIN AND LOSERS LOSE I’M TALKING THE 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES WHEN DALLAS MAVERICKS BEAT MIAMI HEAT. THAT WAS PRICELESS. I DON’T SEE MIAMI HEAT MAKING THROUGH THE FINALS NEXT YEAR. SO WHAT YOU BEAT THE CELTICS IN THE PLAYOFFS THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN NEXT SEASON.

The whole point of this list was to get people stirred up and it seemingly worked. The fact is any list of teams is purely opinion since there are only 5 spots and over 60 years of champions. Everybody is entitled to an opinion so hopefully we can all appreciate the variety of reasons people choose different favorites for their lists.
Here’s mine:
1) ’95-’96 Bulls – Let’s face it, a 72-10 record (the last 3 losses were by a point each so if the ball had bounced differently they might have won 75 games) is incredible in any era. 15-3 in the playoffs (almost swept their way to the finals if not for an OT loss to the Knicks) is amazing too. Let’s see… 87-13 combined… is there another team that won 87% of their games during a season?
2) ’86-’87 Lakers – They finished 65-17 and then 15-3 in the playoffs. They were not really tested until the finals where they beat Boston in 6 games. Statistically this was their best season during the ’80’s.
3) ’85-’86 Celtics – This team had a 67-15 record (40-1 at home, still a record) and went 15-3 in the playoffs. They had to contain Michael Jordan in the 1st round and faced a scrappy Houston Rockets team in the finals. Statistically this was their best season during the ’80’s.
4) ’98-’99 Spurs – Even though it was a lockout shortened season they still had a 37-13 record. Most surprising was they finished 15-2 in the playoffs en route to the 1st of their 4 titles. The great thing here was I’m sure with Jordan retired everybody thought the Jazz were a lock to win it.
5) ’94-’94 Rockets – They had a horrible regular season with a 47-35 record and a journeyman 15-7 playoff record but that is what most impresses me. They weren’t expected to win. How many teams that statisically mediocre ever win a title? They faced the best and still won. Plus, the way Akeem Olajuwon dominated elite players like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and Shaq still makes that season even more incredible.

Those same Lakers that defeated the Celtics? Sure it was one season apart but you can’t blame the Lakers for who they faced in the playoffs. They won in the first 3 rounds like they were expected to and then took care of the Celtics in the finals. The true fact of the matter is I only selected the Lakers best season statistically. But remember they won 5 titles in the ’80’s while the Celtics only won 3. These were essentially the same teams throughout the decade so you still think the Celtics were superior to the Lakers?

Nobody is blaming the Lakers for who they played. They do not belong in the Top 10 basketball teams of all-time because of who they played. That is what I am saying and that is a FACT. The 1987 Lakers got to the Finals by playing the 10th, 14th, & 15th best teams in the league. That is absolutely absurd to think they belong up there with the other top teams. If they won 75 games that would be one thing, but they didn’t. They were 65-17 and there have been more than 10 65 win teams in league history so they do not belong there. They had by far the easiest schedule that borderlines on being straight ludicrous. Playing under .500 competition to get to the finals. That is absurd. Yes the 1980’s Celtics and 1980’s Lakers were very similiar, however the Celtics faced a much tougher road and in 1986 they were way better than any single season Lakers team. 1984-87 Lakers are vastly overrated. They played 15 playoff series in those 4 years. 10 times they faced teams with 44 or less wins, and in the other 5 series they went 16-14. Those are not signs of a Top 10 NBA All-Time team. Not at all.

yea u can make ur case and say that but did the play a below average team to win it all?so come on dude they easily beat the same 86 celtics the following year! if they were so week they shoulda gotten thrashed in the championship……

Yet the sign of the Lakers rising to the level of their Eastern Conference rival Celtics in the Finals and posting a 2-1 advantage in 3 meetings during the ’80’s shows they played better when it was for all the marbles. Any team can have 1 great season…. heck even Larry Bird commented once he’d have won more championships if not for Magic Johnson.

The C’s played like sissies and women in the 80’s…Bird said it himself. The C’s had great skill and shotmaking at the end of games but the Lakers consistently would run the C’s out of the gym. Go back and look at the games when they would play each other on the court head to head,

1-chicago bulls 72-10 man nobody has even gotten closer that the same bulls in 1997 with 69-13

2- 2001 Lakers 56-26 and 15-1 playoff record to win you got to go through the playoffs and everybody knows that the playoffs are the real things because teams bring more intensity due to the stage of the game. when you can dominate a and sweep them by winning four straight times when they bring their A game you can call yourself a team. but when you can do that to everybody during a playoff run you can call yourself the best team ever.

3- 1972 lakers 33-game winning streak man!!

4- 1986 celtics
5-1966 celtics do you know how hard is to three-peat go ask kobe or MJ but how about 8-peating go ask bill russell

i think those top 5 are the right ones, only i would put the 65′ celtics in second. there is nooooo way miami could be in that list, i also like the 02′ lakers, and the late 80’s pistons, but its a really tight list and they dont make for sure in the top ten, loved the 90′ those were the good days, trailblazers, knicks, pacers, suns, rockets, it would of been crazy if the celtics and lakers had a good team in those days, alsoo the hawks, orlando, wowwwww those were the days, not this crappy time were going through…..
go knicks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it’s all about the stats and records, definitely you have to win the championship during that year you had the best record, fran’s top 5 are somehow agreeable, what’s crazy is the one who said lebron’s 66 win team cleveland was the best and they didn’t even brought home the larry o’brien trophy, haha, how pathetic is LBJ for even thinkin’ of that how much more he did type it,

do u know how to count, 66 wins of the cleveland ’09-’10 is never better compared to the 72 wins of bulls ’95-’96, so i won’t even start mentioning that they didn’t win it all during that year, so why the hell can they be considered as top 5 of all time, ^_^

Jordan and the Bulls of 95 – 96 is without a doubt can be listed as ‘all-time’ no. 1 as of today, you must be stupid enough to say there are other players or teams that are better than them, but to even consider a clevaland 09 -10 team that have 6 more loses in the eliminations and didn’t even win the championship during the postseason of that year to better than the bulls of 95 96 makes him not just stupid but also a pathetic and idiotic person, haha, how pathetic LBJ, ^_^

Frank Blinebury wrote: “No. 2: 1967 Philadelphia 76ers – It was a much smaller NBA back then, a more rugged, tougher league”

Tougher league? Back when there far less teams, when the majority of players were 6 foot white guys, when there were less defensive schemes, less training technology, less athleticism, and when the league itself was still in its earlier stages of overall development?

I understand people have a tendency to hold the past with higher respect relative to the modern times they live in, but come on, let’s move on and get real.

Wrong…Chamberlain was a greater physical specimen than Shaq or LEbron and he couldn’t even win in that era. Having a rap video, signature shoes and training like a track athlete for a supermodel show does not make u better at bball.

The Detroit Pistons was the team that stopped Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls to get the championship in the late 80s. This is a good point to prove that it was a good team, good enough to get into this top5 list.

But the Bulls immediately won the championship (3 in a row) right after the Pistons two consecutive champions.
Jordan and his Bulls can get rid of the Pistons because the Pistons got some key players away.

I think Boston Celtics is still the best team in the history of the basketball game, because of its team game execution on both offense and defense. And the discipline as the professional basketball team in the league. They prefer team game playing than individual game accomplishment.

people need to pay attention to what this list is,it is the greatest teams not franchises if it were than ya boston and La would be at the top.but the greatest team in history is the 96 bulls.know your b-ball history before u make a foolish comment like kobes lakers even being close to jordans bulls

1987 Lakers played the 8 seed 37-45 Nuggets, 5 seed 42-40 Warriros & 7 seed 39-43 Sonics to get to the Finals. That is so joke status its not even funny. They barely even played a team over .500 to get to the Finals. 50-1 1986 C’s are the Big Boys.

Yeah 89 Pistons were really good, Thomas and Dumars… Wow… And then you add mr rebound Rodman and you got a team of greats. But I think the top 5 on here is perfect but maybe slightly re ordered… I’m not sure lol. Yeah please don’t talk about 2008 celtics or cavs or the big three miami heat! Just shut your mouth! You don’t know what your talking about. I can name 20 players that will always be better then Lebron James.

However claims of the 2004 pistons being on that list are elgiable… They are the personfication of a team. No real superstar but just intense defense led by Wallace and Billups. Thats a good shout out. But two teams need a mention; Millwakue Bucks with Kareem and Mr Thriple Double Oscar Robertson. I think they won a few championships. And this one is controvesial but I loved them Stockhom and Malone’s Jazz? Maybe not.

Point is nobody could guard the ’86 Celtics frontcourt when healthy with an amazing team backing them up… they’re the best team ever. 6’7 Pippen, 6’8 Rodman and weak Longley couldn’t guard 6’9 Bird, 6’10 McHale and 7 foot Parish, too much size and skill… Crown them

r u kidding pippen one of the gretest defensive players of all time could easily cover bird,and rodman could definetly do a good job defending mchale.my question for u is who on that team would guard jordan and pippen?

LMAO at this kids. They hear about the 72 record and the overhyped Bulls team and wet themselfs… Bulls only started to win titles because the Celtics, the Lakers and the Pistons started to get old and full of injuries. How many time Bird scorched Pippen or Rodman, even when he had the back injury, nobody could stop McHale, and then you got Parish, DJ and Ainge always scoring in double figures with Walton and Wedman coming close to it. Yeah, Jordan would get his as he always did, but then what, Pippen would be exhausted covering Bird he wouldn’t be scoring more than 20 and who would get his share? Rodman or Longley? LOL… maybe only Kukoc.

Point is 96 Bulls would’ve get eaten alive by 80’s Lakers or Celtics… Even the ’91 Bulls were better, people who know bbal know this…

@ big-dog: i think you are the kid. i´m sure you never watched a bulls game (maybe you was too young), when they had jordan. If you had watched just one in this 6 years, you would say too, that this is the greatest team off ALL-TIME. Learn something about bball, bevore you post such a BS.

The 2001 Lakers swept everyone in the playoffs, then only lost one game in the Finals. Oh, by the way, the teams they swept were Portland, Sacramento, and San Antonio. If you don’t remember, those were all the best teams in the west and all Laker rivals. That is impressive!

I would say that the lakers team with Kareem and Magic come second in your list. Kareem the all time leader of points with a twenty year career in the NBA says only half of stats. Kareem’s sky hook was was unstoppable. Michael and scottie, rodman were a team of the ages. Their dominance on court was amazing and the 72-10 record speaks for it self. That team today would still dominate the NBA.

What I always find funny is how the MJ fans say that Jordan was a better player than Kobe and yet he had one of the best Teams in league history. TEAMS. Not just MJ. And Kobe was able to win 5 rings and he didn’t even have the Team around him to vault him to that lofty place. If there was ever a reason to say Kobe is the GOAT, it would be this argument.

I do think this list is missing the 1980 Lakers.
I also don’t agree with any team from the 60’s since there were so few teams in the league and they were all stacked on the Celtics. Different era all together. Still, Red did get 10 championships out of his stacked teams during that run. Thankfully Phil Jackson got 11 in an era with a lot more teams and a lot more talent spread across the NBA. We won’t ever see anyone match that record for a very very very long time.

Kobe had no team? Kobe had Shaq, that means he doesn´t need a team. Shaq was the team. Kobe whitout shaq means just 2 not 5 rings for kobe. MJ is better then every player that have and will play basketball. MJ best of all time!!!!! better than kobe and shaq together!!!!

– ’65 celtics in 8th spot becauase of the lack of competition…they would not beat any of the teams above in a 7 game series.
– i would have liked to put the ’04 pistons in but i think you need to win more than once
– ’92 bulls get 5th spot because they 3-peated from 91-93. 1992 being the season they had the better record
– dont get me started on 2008 celtics and this years miami heat…please
– the 95 rockets, 03 spurs, 70 bucks and even 04 pistons deserve a mention

If this particular ranking had been purely based on statistics, that is, ranking based on the most number of games won against losses in a regular NBA season all the way to the Finals, then won the Finals, then I would have to agree completely. However, since I have now the ambition to be an NBA trainer/coach myself, I would also have to say and request NBA.com Hang Time, if possible, to edit this post to include the notable coaches that led these teams to their respective victories and to thus include Phil Jackson that led the number one team in the history of the NBA in terms of a record run, the 1996 Chicago Bulls; Coach Pat Riley for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987; Coach K. C. Jones for the Boston Celtics in 1986; and, Coach Alex Hannum for the 1967 Philadelphia 76’ers. Thank God for Google. And aside from Coach Red Auerbach, none of the aforementioned coaches were cited. I have a question if anyone else is wondering. Has there been or has anyone seen an NBA basketball game, or NBA team for that matter, without a basketball coach? Yes, it is the players who play the games and make the points and get exhausted, bruised and sometimes get injured. But I think it would be best to also take note of the guiding voice and guiding force that led these incredible teams and their respective incredible players to the top. And furthermore, it is also sad to note that the highest paid basketball coach is not in the NBA, but rather in Division I college basketball. With this slightly long comment, I would like to share my thoughts as well as effect change, in the status quo. Hmmm. That sounds like a line from High School Musical. But seriously, I’d rather see NBA coaches get a larger share of the pot money. Coaches have to deal with many different things – properly coach all their players who come from different backgrounds having different skill levels – aside from having to deal with highly paid players, some of which have attitude problems, and, at times, refuse to cooperate. Coaches also have to deal with a lot of people, most especially with team owners, other coaches, other executives within and outside of the NBA, and still many others. And, coaches are expected to deliver and take their respective teams to victory. All of these, I have seen for myself, on print, on tv and on video, in my attempt to be a basketball trainer/coach. Thank you. ^^,

I’d have to include the 2001 Lakers in the Top5 for sure.
As an anti-Laker, I still must pay tribute to their dominance.

They were defending champs, Shaq had just won all 3 MVP trophies and Kobe really emerged the previous year as well. In 2001, they swept all WC teams, and destroyed Philly in 5 in the Finals.

They had size, strength, depth, clutch, sharp shooting and A PRIME SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, which is practically enough to land them a top5 team in itself. It was like cheating: there was no beating L.A. that year.

Just a thought for all you heat/Lebron haters out there, though i’m not a great fan of either of them and completely understand that they currently have no place in any top all time team lists, i do believe that many of you might be swallowing your own comments within about 5 years. For them to have made the finals in their 1st year after a big revamp, not to mention all the critisism they received throughout the year, is an achievement in its own. It usually takes a team 2-3 years to gel completely and be at their best. Lebron is not immature, ignorant or arrogant, he is a machine, one of the best players the nba has seen. These players want to be together and once the correct minor adjustments are made with the role players and these guys start to gel correctly, watch out all you heat haters!

i wonder why if there are kinds of posts like this, i always see miami heat… what’s good about them? did they win a championship, did “lebron” won the championship he promised? no way!!!!! they don’t deserve on the all time list, since they didn’t have a good record like michael jordan did… not even on the top 10…

I think the 85 lakers were the greatest team karim was more in his prime and the lakers finally knocked off the celtics in the finals the 80’s greatest decade of basketball great teams lakers,celtics,pistons,76ers all great teams the league wasnt waterd down like it was in the 90’s and 2000’s

Don’t really see the point of including all these 60s teams, there wasn’t even a three point line back then and players are just so much more athletic and talented now. I think most 50 win teams in 2011 could have handled those 60s championship teams quite easily.

Not sure about top 5, but I think these 2011 Mavs deserve an honorable mention for always being picked to lose, for all those amazing comebacks, and for defending the integrity of nba basketball from quick-fix superstar salads.

no.1 is the 96 chicago bulls with MJ leading the team finishing the season 72-10.. no.2 is the 87 Los Angeles lakers team with three star players along with a hall of famer coach pat riley…no.3 is the 86 boston celtics having five hall of famers and a good back up bench players….no.4 is the 2001 Los Angeles lakers team with kobe and shaq on his prime wining the championship with only one loss on the playoffs 16-1…the last but not the least no.5 is the 2004 Detriot pistons defeating the 3 times defending champions Los Angeles 4-1 they where the best team that year…

please stop bringing the below 75′ era teams in comparison with the modern 85-95-00 teams. thats just plain BS comeon its like comparing a highshool league with the NBA the 60’s 70’s teams should be stuck and categorized in that era. along with the questionable records of that time. bring back the credibility remove the barbershop talk and the barbershop claims about records of that time and compare it to this modern day’s difficulty rating. and bring some sense and credibility back into the game.

yes the chicago bulls! and they are trying to return. they already started last year.. congrats to them! looking forward on the next season.. hope to see them on the finals nextyear!
chicago bulls is really a great team! really a fa.legend and a history!!
:))

Special mention to the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers…they have 2 players winning 4 MVPs in the last 5 years(Moses Malone ’79, ’82 and ’83 and Julius Erving ’81). They also have the first 6th man of the year Bobby Jones, Boston strangler Andrew Toney and the prototype point guard Maurice Cheeks. Somehow, no great teams came after the 1980s except for the Bulls. Pardon for the teams of the new millennium, i cannot mention a team that i would consider great. Probably the nearest would be the 2008 Celtics(Garnet, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, Perkins, Davis, House, PJ Brown, Powe.

honestly all teams that have won a championship are the best among the best. wouldn’t argue about the 96 bulls, they were and still the amazing team to date. 72 winning streak? come on…. but at least put Three Peat Lakers no.5. no teams since Jordan era have done what Kobe-Shaq and the TEAM had accomplished.

Obviously this article is based on teams that were built over time – not teams that just stack players together quickly (before they can even get a chance to remember each others’ last names) such as the 71/72 Lakers. the 82/83 SIxers, the 04 Lakers, 06 Heat, and 08 Celtics.

But then, if this article does not include stacked teams, on shat basis does this article define ‘best team’?
Surely the 68/69 Celtics was the trophy won by players hearts and pride more than any other year in history.
The late 80’s Pistons (may have been a 3-peat if it weren’t for Isiah’s ankle) were a ‘team’.

The 03 Spurs and 04 Pistons (no superstars and took out Lakers 4-1) were great, and the 2000 Lakers were spectacular with Shaq’s best year ever (winning streak at regular season end was incredible and playoff run unmatched 15-1). The Lakers 09/10 built over time and playing the stacked Celtics who were at full force again.

I agree with the list to some degree, but I wouldn’t put them above the 2000 Lakers or the 04 Pistons.
And how can you not put up the 67/68 or especially 68/69 Celtics? The trophy means nothing if the regular season wasn’t so hot? Then if winning the trophy means nothing, where are teams that deserve to be on the list that didn’t win a trophy like the Supersonics in 95/96? or the 68/69 Lakers?

excelent choice°°°.. The greatest player with the greatest team of all time!!!.. Since that era, the nba has been just acircus and nothing but hilarious players such as lebron james!!!.. if the next season is posposed i think it would be a great idea to put all the bulls 1995-1996 nba 72-10 season, to show every new nba fan what was like, to watch michael jordan, scottie pippen and denis rodman at their best.. thanks!!!

The Lakers, when they were at there best with shaQ and the Coby, and only lost one game in the playoffs,
they didn’t just sweep everyone with close games in the playoffs, they dominated every game, they hammered the spurrs, made them look like school boys,,, they were unstoppable,,,,, totally dominant that year, atleast as dominant as the 96 bulls, definetly deserve a spot in the top 5, if not number 1 ,,,,,,,,, and i think they would of crushed the old championship teams of the Celtics and magics Lakers,,,,, but that is a different subject,,,,,

miami in this list? come on we are talking about the NBA greatests teams of all time…… not about the most commercial team of all time, it’s all about basketball…. the spurs might be here, the 2000 lakers, the rockets, “if they should only had one ring” the jazz, but it should have been a top ten, this top five is real……

I so do not agree with the order of that list. IMO, the number 1 team, hands down, should have been the ’87 Lakers (or ’88 Lakers since they won both years!). The 80’s Lakers are the best ever for many reasons: #1 the 80’s was when NBA basketball was at it’s peak! Unlike Chicago who played 5 different teams who never won titles (ie Seattle Supersonics? Phoenix Suns?) The Lakers played and beat championship teams: Larry and the Celtics, Isaiah and the Pistons, Dr. J and the 76ers all won multiple titles! The league was in transition in ’96. Another words, the league was soft when the Bulls won 72 and the title. There is no way to convince me that had that team played in the 80’s that would have won as many games!

…and to continue my point, they missed the finals in ’86 because they did not take Houston seriously. Had they played Boston, there is no reason why the same result could have taken place from the precious year when they beat Boston in ’85 since they owned Boston by then. Obviously! They beat them again in ’86! So why they are ranked higher than the ’87 Lakers is beyond comprehension when you think about it (that is number 2). #3 Bringing into the argument the 76ers from 1967 begs the modern era vs. the ancient past NBA argument up with fans all over I’m sure. Back in ’67, the league was a lot different with only 8 or 9 teams. I’m of the opinion that teams today could beat up on teams from back then! Anyway, I am still in shock that you people who claim to be expert sports analysts could rank the ’87 Lakers at #5. Ridiculous!

That Houston team was amazing… and in ’87 the Celtics were not the same as ’86, their main players were full of injuries, Walton was gone and the playoffs tired the whole team, the Lakers had an easy ride with weaker teams.

@Elias. If you played the 8 seed 37-45 Nuggets, 5 seed 42-40 Warriors & 7 seed 39-43 Sonics to get to the Finals would you be considered the best team of all-time? Not even close. That playoff schedule is strict joke status. Can you even name a player on any of those 3 teams? Alex English maybe a 2nd year Chris Mullin??? That is who the 1987 Lakers played to get to the Finals. That is the biggest JOKE in NBA playoffs history. So overrated its not even funny. 50-1 C’s are the Big Boys.

They beat em in ’85 too…If the Lakers played in the Eastern Conference in the 80’s, the Celtics wouldn’t have made the Finals the whole decade, in other words they woulda been the Nuggets, Warriors, Sonics.

08 celtics? are you kidding? they win 1 title and they are in top 5 ALL TIME? give me a break

and don’t get me started on the miami heat of today, in your dreams they haven’t even won anything

but the one team i do think deserve a bit of a arguement is the 2000-20002 lakers i mean the 2001 championship when they had the best playoff record in nba history with going 15-1 losing only 1 game and that was in the finals sweeping their way to the finals, that was the strongest team of that laker three peat dynasty and i think that era has a bit of a arguement being of one of the best of all time, but all 5 that were listed i believe are solid

I am not sure the last comment posted so I will rewrite. in response I agree fundamentals are lacking in most modern NBA teams to the degree they were instilled in the earlier years. However that is not to say they are not exhibited in many successful teams of today such as the dallas mavericks.

I think there is a romanticism with mentioning earlier eras of NBA as they were pioneers of the sport. However I think many often overlook how amazing the athletes have become in the past 20 years because of that. If you were to put a team such as early shaq and kobe lakers era lakers up against many 60s teams they would destory them. no contest. plus they had fundamentals and phil jackson. Many of the 50s and 60s teams the players had no left hand!

I’ll tell you why. Because the 1980’s Western Conference was a JOKE besides the Lakers. Not 1 60 Win Team out of the west in the 80’s besides the Lakers. NOT 1!!! No team even won more than 57 games in the West in the 80’s besides the Lakers. From 1984 to 1986 the West only had 2 TEAMS win more than 50 games besides the Lakers. Easiest road to the Finals in Sports History=1980’s Lakers. They are overrated. By the time they got to the Finals all they had to do was win 4 games, they didn’t even play anybody to get there. An entire decade of cakewalks to the Finals and that includes getting 2 #1 draft picks in the decade. What a JOKE.

The Sonics won 64 games that year (would have been more if not resting) and played in a year when the league was superior to what it is today.
No comparison to the Heat
Even the new Franchise Raptors had over 20 wins that year beating out several teams in 10/11.
If anything, the Cavs winning 66 games two years ago (would have been 67 if Lebron didn’t sit final game) is a team that should be given honorable mention – and the only reason they lost is because Mike Brown overplayed his players in the first half of every game, building up nice leads against Orlando every game only to blow them all because (1) they ran out of gas and (2)couldn’t set plays (both reasons = bad coaching. Any great coach knows you play for the 4th quarter!)

As a huge pistons fan, I want to chime in on what’s being said on them. I am down with the old bad boys being around 5th or 6th. But, while the 03-04 team was great, they would not make the cut. Actually, they were an even better during the 04-05 season. If it wasn’t for the infamous us of “the switch,” and the Pistons inability too constantly play their best, focused basketball, they would have won again.

Best team ever: 70 – 71 Milwaukee Bucks. They posted an average point differential of 12.2ppg (trailing only the 70 – 72 Lakers), and one of 14.5ppg in the playoffs, and an 11.90 SRS on basketball – reference (best ever). And they did it against though competition as the Western Conference posted an average winning % of 0.550 and their Midwest division one of 0.640.

The 96 Bulls faced an EC with an overall winning % of ‘only’ 0.504 and an Atlantic Divison with one of 0.533. They post an SRS of 11.80.

The 72 Lakers faced an WC with an overall winning % of 0.561 but faced an 18 – win Portland team which is why their SRS is ‘only’ 11.65 and the winning % in their Pacific Division only 0.534.

The top 5 is completed by the 86 Celtics and the 87 Lakers. Birds’ Celtics posted an average point differential of 9.4ppg and an SRS of 9.06 against an EC with 3 other plus 50 – win teams (Bucks, Hawks, Sixers). Their Atlantic Division won 54.1% of their games. Magic’s Lakers posted an average point differential of 9.3ppg and an SRS of 8.32 mainly because their WC was not that though. Their Pacific Division only won 49.4% of their games.

Annoying? They just tell the truth. The 70 – 71 Bucks come out as the most dominant team ever. You can’t compare teams if you leave out the context in which they played. In comparison, that Bucks team outplayed their strong opposition in the most dominant way. No other team was more dominant, only the 95 – 96 Bulls and the 71 – 72 Lakers come close. The 90 – 91 Bulls played a great season but in comparison to the 95 – 96 Bulls for example, the latter team faced thougher competition and outscored them by a greater margin. So who’s the better team then? Well simple, the 95 – 96 Bulls. You can’t say everything with statistics, I’m aware of that but you can’t argue without them.

How can anyone say Bill Russell is overrated of all people? 11 Championship rings, A national medal of honor, and considered by anyone with any knowledge of the game of basketball, one of if not the best big man of all time. Those Celtics teams are not overrated, you don’t just win 11 titles, no matter how bad the competition supposedly is. Not that it was bad seeing as how some of the greatest players ever came from that era. Also to say any team from today would beat the 65 celtics, 86 celtics or any of them because they have better conditioning and more athleticism. You realize if the past players were able to get the same training and conditioning, they would have more athleticism than most of today’s players. As far as there being no three point line, great, doesn’t mean there were not shooters, just means players today earn more for the same shots. Going inside and banging around in the paint is still a recipe for success in todays nba, Shaq was dominant, Dwight is dominant, and if a big man can get in the paint, the points are easier. There is not as much of that today because kid’s growing up work more on shooting than getting down and dirty in the paint. Also if you look at the stats, teams driving to the basket and getting in the paint in today’s nba win more games. It’s great to have shooters, but you cant win by just throwing up a 100 shots from deep every game. Ask the warriors

With all due respect to the 1996 Chicago Bulls. they are certainly not the the best team of all-time despite winning 72 games in the regular season! The 1987 Lakers followed by the 86 Celtics I believe are the best teams of all-time. The 80’s era is considered by many the toughest era of all time while the 90’s era was considered the weakest. I think the hall of famers on both those squads would be too much for the Bulls to handle! Also remember,a 1987 Magic Johnson and 1986 Bird (both MVP years for them) was every bit as good as a 1996 Michael Jordan!!

I just received my new issue of Sporting News with Jordan in the front cover. Usually, I don’t like Sporting News, I prefer Sports Illustrated, but the subscription cost is cheaper. Anyway, I usually don’t keep issues around since I’m not a big fan of the magazine, but I will keep this issue since MJ is and always be the man! They voted the 95-96 Bulls as the best team as well, not everybody was happy though, Micheal Cooper thought his 87 Lakers would have swept the Bulls. Personally, I find this interesting because I always would have loved to see Kareem vs Jordan if he didn’t retired two years before the Bulls made it the Finals for the first time. But my theory is this, we would have still won. Cooper claimed that the Bulls only had Pippen and Jordan and that was it. But for some reason, he forgot that Dennis Rodman was on that squad as well and if it wasn’t for the Worm, we wouldn’t had that great of a year. The same Rodman that was on that Detroit Piston squad that gave the Lakers a fit in 1988 and came so close to preventing them from repeating and in 1989 shattered their hopes of threepeating. Let’s see who threepeated, not once, but twice, I think my boys did, DaBulls. As a matter of fact, Phil Jackson pull off the threepeat three times with two different squads. He’s the only coach to this since Auerbach. I’m not dissing those 80’s Lakers, to go to eight Finals in a decade is amazing, but look at all the talent that was on that team as well as Boston. Only three other teams showed up in the Finals in that decade other than the Celtics and the Lakers: Houston, Philly, and Detroit. But in the end, despite all that Laker talent, that Bulls team or any Bulls championship squad, led by Jordan, would have found a way to beat them. Jordan was never afraid of talent, the more the merrier for him.

What another the Houston rockets with Hakeem ” the dream ” olojawan or Clyde drexlers trailblazers or Kareem Abdul jabbars lakers or the 88 89 pistons or even The 69 70 Knicks These are dome of the greatest teams ever that weren’t mentioned yet

’11 Heat: Some of these teams didnt win in their 1st year together. Minus the fact that the ’11 Heat didnt win the title they have the BEST 2 players ever on the same team. Better than Shaq and Kobe, Magic and Kareem, Mike and Scottie, etc.

What??? 2 Greatest players of all time in Miami????? Ok, Wade is really one of the better players in history, but wait a minute who is the seconde one??? Please tell me not you mean Lebron!!!! this guy has his moments, but common, hes one of the top 10 all time rollplayers, but still behind Kerr, Hornacek, Posey and Deshawn Stevenson

Ok, Fist, The MIAMI HEAT and The 08 Celicts arent in the best Top 5 Teams Ever, no the Rockets, no The Timberholves, No Dallas, Come On, Keep The Fanatism Out Please And Lets Talk Basketball.

Anyway I´m Desagree with the Official List, There Are Memorable Teams But Not The Best 5.

My Top 5 Teams Ever:

1- ´96 Bulls: Of Course They Have Jordan, Pippen and Win 2 3peats

2- ´87 Lakers: The Best Point Guard Ever, Magic with Kareem and Their 5 Championships

3- ´86 Celtics: They Have Larry Bird and Parish and They win Championships to Prove, they were Great.

4- 2000 Lakers: They Have a Dream Team, Thant Win a 3peat starting the new millenium, They Have the Young Kobe, that is now the best player in the league, Shaq, the most dominant Center in NBA history and they keep the good basketball three years in a row, winning the only 3peat of this millenium.

5- ´65 Celtics: They win 11 championships, helping the Celtics have the record of more championships in history, But it was fear, they have a 7 foot Center playing versus 5 or 6 foot players, but still aswome for the great quantity.

I was born in 1997, so basically ive had to watch modern basketball ;/

But I know more bout past teams and players then anyone my age, and I think the team of Oscar Robertson and Lew Alcindor should at least get a mention, 3rd year Bucks winning the chamionship ?! Thats crazy. The 71′-72′ Knicks should get a mention to.

Lol at people saying miami, yes there good and i like em but 58 regular season wins and playoff runners up aint gona get you in the top 50 of all time let alone top 5. In my opinion the best team of all time is easily the 96 bulls for one reason and one reason only michael jordan, the greatest player to ever play the game and no one even comes close to him, his the best by a long long way from the second best and thats why the bulls are and were the best, if i had to pick a top 5 teams of all time id pick 5 of the 6 bulls championship winning teams that jordan was in its as simple as that when you have the greatest you are the greatest and thats how good jordan was to command the top 5 teams of all time all because of HIM in a team sport thats very very rare and thats the respect he commands and deserves and the respect i have for him, boy do i miss watching him and those bulls play what a sight he would drop 50 every few nights on todays so called best kobe and lebron.

How can the Lakers with multiple titles, the 2nd best player to ever step foot in the nba in kobe only behind jordan, and the most dominate hard to 1v1 guard center or player ever in the nba shaq never gets mentioned. Add well above average supporting cast like robert horry who won championships with the lakers and spurs, rick fox, and derrick fisher and I see the only reason for not mentioning any of those insane lakers teams is because they are so recent and not veiwed as a historic team sometimes.

2012 Miami Heat after they win 70 games next year and a NBA championship people will call them the 2nd best of all time behind the 96 Bulls because all you guys use to masturbate to MJ and the Bulls in the 90’s because they where winning! In the 90’s there where not more then 5 good teams a year now threes at least 10 a year. Go back and see how many teams wins at lest 50 games a year now its much higher then back then! 2009 all 8 West playoff teams won 50 or more games

Lol at people saying miami, yes i like them and there good but 58 wins in the regular season and runners up in the playoffs aint gonna get you in the top 50 of all time let alone top 5, in my opinion 96 bulls are the best of all time clearly for 1 reason and 1 reason only MICHAEL JORDAN

1. ’86 Celtics (Nobody matched against their frontcourt, height, defense and skill, if not for injuries, players getting old and the death of Bias they would’ve continue to dominate)
2. ’87 Lakers (I mean this team was just amazing)
3. ’83 76ers (Moses, Dr. J, Cheeks… talented team)
4. ’96 Bulls (Great team but a bit overrated or overhyped, if they played in the 80’s they would’ve get beaten by the above teams, no doubt. Amazing talented team though with maybe the best player ever)
5. ’89 Pistons (Defensive team with skilled players)
I didn’t watch teams before the 80’s enough so I can’t say much more. Also got to mention the 00’s Lakers.

I’m pretty sure the title said “TEAMS”!!! Mentioning three guys for the No. 1 Bulls is not a team. Just like the Miami Heat weren’t an amazing team this season. Teams like the Pistons, or even other Lakers or some other awesome teams deserve better rankings than the Bulls. 88-90 Pistons should be at the best 2nd on that list.

The bulls 95-96 were the best team all time, no boubt but they are are leaving out too many good teams off that list such as the three-peat Lakers….I am sure the MIami Heat will be on the list when it is written again in another 10 years!!!!!

Due to the expansion draft, the bulls played against a watered-down league. The 85-86 celtics on the other hand, played against the showtime lakers, the badboy pistons, the Hakeem led rockets and the dr j sixers. They also had 5 HOF on that team including bill Walton on the bench. Jordan’s team only had 3, and their non hall of famers couldn’t stand up to the Celtics role players. Plus the Cs only lost 1 home game l, which is incredible

What about the 2011 Cavaliers? They lost their key player, Lebron James, through free agency and had their major guys suffer injuries. But they still fought through the season and won NINETEEN GAMES.
If you think that they don’t deserve a spot on this list, then you’re probably right

People seem to credit Magic with being the best player on the Lakers team. This is only partly true as he shared the leadership role between himself and Kareem. If I had to pick the better player out of Magic and Kareem, I’d pick Kareem. He seem a bit underrated annd underappreciated nowadays.

The 91 bulls were the best of the dynasty years. Mj and Scottie were in their athletic primes and though they only had 61 regular season wins, they had their most dominant postseason with only 1 loss against their toughest competition.

No they were not. The 96 Bulls clearly stand the tallest, certainly when looking at dominance.

The 96 Bulls posted an averge point differential of 12.2ppg and an SRS of 11.80 on basketball – reference. They played against a 60 – win Magic team and an EC with an overall winning % of 0.504. They played a very good Supersonics team in the Finals (avg. diff. 7.8ppg and SRS 7.39) in which they took control after being 3 – 0 up.

The 91 Bulls posted an average point differential of only 9.0ppg and an SRS of 8.57. Their thoughest opponent was a 56 – win washed up Celtics team, with an overall average winning % 0.489. They played a washed – up Lakers team (abg. diff. 6.7ppg and SRS 6.73) in the finals. It would have been another story if they had faced the Blazers.

The stats just tell you which team was more dominant and the 95 – 96 Bulls were by far the most dominant Bulls team ever. Next up are the 96 – 97 Bulls and then the 91 – 92 Bulls. The 90 – 91 Bulls come in fourth. They did posted a solid playoff run but you have to look at their opposition. They faced a Knicks team with a 39 – 43 record in the first round, a Sixers team with Barkley (who hardly played D) and Hersey Hawkins and uhm that was it in the second round, a declining Pistons team with an injured Isiah in the ECF and a washed-up Lakers team in the Finals. I give them credit for the Pistons series but still, they faced far more thougher opposition in 96, 97 and 92. I know they beat the Blazers in the 92 Finals but those Blazers were less good than the year before. They posted an SRS (average point differential in combination with strength of shedule) of 8.47 in 90 – 91 (Bulls 8.57) while they posted an SRS of 6.94 in 91 – 92 (Bulls 10.07). You see, basically the same teams posted different kind of seasons. That is why statistics matter.

I would like to allow the Jazz into the discussion at least, because had they not faced Jordan two years in the finals, they had the makeup of a championship team, Stockton is one of the top 5 point guards of all time, and Malone was one of the top power fowards…so again, if they don’t face the Bulls, with those two players and a solid team around them they would have won maybe 1 if not 2 titles.

The 03-04 Pistons did not have a superstar before or after the championship, they just had one of the most solid starting 5, not going to say all time, but their starting 5 was impressive, Big Ben, Sheed, Prince, Hamilton, Billups…not a superstar there, just 5 guys who played really well as a TEAM and look what happened, they beat the Lakers in what was called the 5 game sweep, cause of Kobe’s previously mentioned buzzer beater.

These are great teams in NBA history, but what about the Fo Fo Fo Sixers in 1983 with Julius “The Doctor” Evring, Mo Ceeks, and Mosses Malone? They defeated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals that year, and went on to destroy the Lakers in the Finals.

those 2000 and 2001 lakers would have killed the bulls. they wouldn’t have an answer for shaq. It would be ridiculous watching pippen and horace grant against a 350 pound beast. The Bulls were lucky to play in the 90s, in between the 80s lakers and celtics and the shaq in his prime lakers.

Laker Fan you have to be smoking crack Ohh let’s see Dennis Rodman actually played Shaq pretty well. You have to be joking to think the 2001 2002 Lakers could beat the 96 Bulls. Who guards MJ? Kobe? LMAO The Lakers are Lucky the Bulls were breaking up a dynasty by 2000 2001. 96 Bulls best team of all time 72-10

The 2000 P-town Blazers with Sabonis were better than the 2000 Lakers…I think the ’01 Lakers are the only legit team of that 3-peat…As for the 2002 LAL-Kings rigged series, does anyone remember that Pat Riley trademarked the term 3-peat after ’88 and then there were three 3-peats in 13 years.

Any team today would mop up the floor with teams back then… they didnt even fken shoot 3s back then…
I don’t think NBA anything should be counted until at least the invention of the 3 point line. The Warriors today would outscore them. What is basketball without the 3 point line??? then you can just pack the paint and whoever is the biggest guy wins. (Chamberlain 100 pts, Russell 11 rings) .. not to mention they had like 10 teams back then… so much higher chance of winning… Today theres so much competition and even the worst teams can beat the best team any day.
Not to mention today the athletic ability and conditioning of athletes is just way higher than in the old days. The problem athletes have today is they don’t really have high basketball IQ or work on their skills because they rely too much on athleticism. But theres plenty of guys who are all around good players.
The best teams have been the Michael Jordan Bulls Teams and the Kobe Bryant Lakers Teams.

Plus you have to consider that there used to be rules limiting the amount of black players one team could have– where would the NBA be right now if those rules were still around?– and in the last decade or so international players (Nash, Nowitzski, Ginobli, Parker, Yao etc.) have also increased the competition.

I think that also you need to remember that there was a divide. The NBA wasn’t the only show around. The ABA also had some of that talent in the other league, so the talent pool was not as large. I think also that the rules were in favor of poor free three shoters. I remember hearing some where that they had a rule were if you missed a free through back in the day, then you could get a “muligan” and try it again. Lastly about the three point line. Don’t get it twisted that players back in the day didn’t have range. They did, they just didn’t get rewarded for it.

NBA players look like what they do today largely due to the advancement in health science, psychology, nutrition, training equipment etc etc. In 1987 it was your talent that led you to the top. So if you re claiming that todays warriors would take on ’65 boston celtics – LOL – i am wondering if your are comparing celtics+todays training vs warriors (105:49 final score) or celtics vs warriors minus professional help, food supplement and all the rest of the crap they are getting to improve their game (105:19). You are right that artificially made teams of today cannot be compared to the teams of the era of true ball.
p.s. i am not 65 yr old i just give credits where they need to be given

i know that. what i am saying is that if u take the players back then and add “all that stuff” you would get better teams. these guys had to work on their game straight up naturally so u can just imagine if they had all the equipment and conditioning and etc.

I don’t understand the reasoning that if there are less teams it is easier to win…If there are less teams wouldn’t that mean there are less bad players and more good players per team? You think it is an accident that Red Auerbach and the Celtics won I think 8 in a row and then nobody repeated again until the ’88 Lakers.

Correction, the best teams of late were the Michael Jordan Bulls and the SHAQ O’NEAL Lakers Teams. Unless you happen to be referring to 2008-2010 which I doubt.

Seriously, what’s with people thinking that Kobe was the man when LA won there three-peat. He was a Pippen; a centre piece and much needed part of the team. But you don’t see people saying Pippen’s 96 Bulls do you…

thats exactly what it means. how can they be considered a great team when A,they didn’t win and B, they aren’t really a team. its 2 amazing players and a bunch of washed up, vet minimum paid has beens!

I think the oldtimers are overestimated. I’d definitely take the ’65 Celtics out of that list. I didn’t watch the to the late 90s, so I don’t know who should take their place, but the best team since then (which won a title) were definitely the 2002 Lakers.

HAHAHAHA yeah the 04 Lakers?! Yeah they had Payton and Malone, both WAY past their prime and just trying to grab a ring. Much like many of the members of this years Heat team. Also like this years Heat team, they didn’t win! This is the same team that got beaten 4-1 by the underdog pistons in the finals.

Yeah, this was probably the worst and most banged up Lakers team that ever made the Finals. Well in my memory atleast. Malone was hurt and shouldn’t have played, Payton was a no show not only all playoffs but all season (much like Glen Rice in 2000) Kobe and Shaq weren’t getting along and the rest of the roster was just plain old. Big shot rob and Rick Fox both were non-factors due to not getting much playing time. Rookie Luke Walton was about the only decent spark out there at the time. The Lakers limped into the Finals and burned out. But like the Heat, it goest to show you that you can’t throw a bunch of superstars together at the end and win it all. Also the 2007 Rockets met the same fate when Sir Charles’ tried to do the same. Face it, the formula is not full proof.

I am a Laker fan since I started watch basketball 32 years ago, but even I can’t agree with that. You had, as mentioned above, 2 players at the end of their careers, and two more hall of famers dealing with their own issues. Like the Heat year, great potential, but potential not fulfilled.

what miami fans need 2 understand is that you can put 5 allstars together to lay agains the rest of the league and it still is not called a team you need at leats 8 good players (or desent) to call your self a team

I don’t belive that the ’96 Bulls are the best team ever… they may have had the best record ever and the best player ever but the competition in the 90’s was so much inferior to the competition of the mid 80’s. the 86 celtics, 87 laker, and 83 sixers all would have had a good shot at beating the bulls, they had so much more team resourcefullness then those garbage jazz and sonics teams the bulls beat up on

so because jordan was better in 91 then he was in 96 that means the bulls werent better? they had rodman longley kukoc and kerr.. they were better.. they won 72 games and in all but in 1 of the 10 games they lost by under 10 points.. so they literally had a shot to win 81 games in a season.. name me another team even remotely close to that? and you idiots that mention the competition being harder is a joke..

I agree with the list if we are talking achievements mixed with skill level. If we are talking who would actually win a basketball game and therefore who is the best team,well you’d have to add a whole bunch of teams from the last 23 years rather than just one. Nobody likes to say it but basketball players today are bigger, more athletic, more versatile, have better training facilities and are just plain better in nearly every aspect than their 60s couterparts. So if we actually had the aid of some time machine and could match them up even 2011 finals losing heat would wup satch sanders and co. Nobody likes to admit it and for the most part why would you discuss it – but its the truth.

Yeah, but with all the equipment and everything you mentioned, they are missing the most important thing that the 60’s players had. FUNDAMENTALS!!! What makes Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird 3 of the best players of all times. They had fundamentals. and I’ll put a team of those 3 with Oscar Robins and Kareem or Wilt anyday.

those guys back in the days had real talent. not bounch of coaches and health professionals, food supplements and what not to boost up supernatural humans. if u want to compare bulls 96 team (or any team on that top 5 list) with heat 11 team than compare them on the same level of todays training OR BETTER YET i would love to see heat in 1996 when the game was about ur talent and not how many ppl train u looll ridiculous

And I have no idea as to why the Miami Heat even deserve a mention on this list. Not only did they not win a championship, they didn’t even have a stellar season. Maybe in a few years, they might scratch the top ten list…who knows. But please, Lebron fans, please keep your nose out of this conversation until you guys have built that dynasty that your hero was talking about at the beginning of this season.

Are you being serious here? “Hey look, they lost in the Finals, they didn’t even led the league in wins, but they are pretty good! We should definitely compare them with the greatest teams of all-time.” Did you start watching basketball last november?

how DOESNT that mean you can forget about them. This isnt the top 5 best players on a roster team of all time. just TEAM. They weren’t even the best TEAM THIS year, nevermind talking about all time. They have alot of roster upgrades and a championship season to have before they are talked about in terms of all time

You have absolutely and positively overlooked the concept of TEAM. We’re talking about great TEAMS here, not teams with the highest number of high caliber/profile/marketable players.

And yes, you can forget about the 2010-2011 Heat, because if another TEAM beat them in the Finals then they’re not the best TEAM. The TEAM that beat them is the best TEAM.

Put Jordan, Bird, Barkley, Russell & Stockton together on a team: if they can’t work out how to play together to win games, then they’re not the best TEAM. They’re just a bunch of individually talented players. Getting the concept yet?

Well look at the Lakers in the early 2000’s. they had shaq and kobe and every other player on that team was role players. Lakers new how to run their offense and defense evenly. You can’t have lebron and wade on the same team. yeah its cool and all but they dont belong together. keep bosh and wade. it works better have a big man and a little man. not both of them and then a guy that takes away the rebounding from the big man and the scoring from the little man. like if they can get rid of lebron for 3-4 good players, they actually might win. because that will give you a great starter in his place, and 2-3 ood role players possibly a reliable sixth man to help boost that bench energy. heat forget lebron he couldnt do it in cleveland and miami. he should have stayed in cleveland, he would have had the same result. hes immature, arrogant, ignorant and doesnt know what it takes to win. before he even gets a ring he has to grow up. he brought wade down with him, what a low way to make fun of someones sickness. lebron needs to approach the game in a different way because what hes doing aint working. is completely a liability in the clutch time. 4th quarter in the final couple minutes or when the playoffs get to the point where they really matter, he cant show up. he cant handle pressure. 8 years in the league and he still has yet to prove he can.

Are you insane?! You are exactly right, they DIDN’T win a championship, meaning, they were not even the best team in the league THIS YEAR, let along a top five team of all time. For them to be a top five all time this years Mavericks would also have to be, and I think we can all agree that is not the case. Sorry but they were at no point the best team in the league, regular season or playoffs. The fact that you would even comment that they should be considered for top five all time just shows how little you actually know about basketball.

I have to agree. The Lakers had a tough road and Iverson’s 76ers would not go away. They definitely earned that one and not to mention that big run of wins the Lakers had just before the playoffs as well. Though I think they are left off this list because they didn’t have a great regular season until the end and were actually a surprise to win the whole things when all the experts were riding the Spurs band wagon that year.

Wow, I wish people would get off Lebron’s jock already. The guy has all of the physical ability in the world, but he has proven time and time again that he can’t do it when it counts. Until he proves that he’s a winner and leads a team to a title, he’ll just be a pretender, and he’ll never prove it as long as he’s riding Wade’s coat tails. Wade is the real deal, he’s the backbone of that team.

And don’t forget he made a ultimatium for gm to fire coach Brown who had nothing to do with team losing to better team and the next year just went to miami yeah that is a real great player if they put him on NBA ALL STARS there should be an astorix that should say he disapointed all his fans GM’s team players and had no scoring abilitis beyond 4 feat.

The difference is that they were 4 & 5 players that PLAYED like Hall of Famers, not players that SAID they were Hall of Famers. They played hard and were rewarded with multiple tiles and a place in the Hall of Fame. They didn’t announce ahead of time that they were Hall of Famers or that they were going to win multiple titles or anything else. They all just stepped up and played the game.

argh some of u miami fans just make the whole organization look dumb. u need to have guts (and no brains) to bring up ur 2.5 player-team on the blog that mentionned 96 bulls and 87 lakers. stop bein as full of urself as lebron is

2003-2004 Detroit Pistions. They were the epitome of “a team.” They dismantled the Lakers that year 4-1, it would have been a sweep but the Kobie hit that amazing shot at the buzzer. So yes I believe this Pistons team is worthy of one of the greatest NBA teams…….

They were great, but would have been crushed in a series by each of these teams. First, all of these teams won multiple championships. Second, back then you had Hall of famers who could take over the game at both ends of the court. There were more x’s and o’s, back cuts, and double screens.

Today there is give LBJ the ball at the top of the ket and get out of the way. Much easier to defend. The ’86 Celtics B-Ball IQ and shooting would have been too much for the Pistons or the 2K Laers to handle. They were not at the “elite” level of the teams on this list. Multiple Hall of Famers executing a system to razor sharp perfection. Unstoppable.

Not True. That Pistons team could of ran wit ’em. Billups, Prince, Hamilton, and the Wallaces were a solid team. Intelligent, resilient, and undeniable defensively. All those x’s and o’s, back cuts and double screens you’re talking about, Hamilton was on that all day! Billups’ purpose on this earth was execution. Sheed stretching out the D so Tayshawn can cut down the lanes.

YOU HAVE TO WATCH NBA FOR MAYBE 40 YEARS TO EVEN SAY SOMETHING LA AND BOSTON HAVE HALF OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS THAN THE REST OF THE NBA TEAMS IT SHOULD BE LA, BOSTON, LA, BOSTON AND THAN MAYBE CHICHAGO!!!!!!!!!

Beating that Laker team was not an accomplishment…That was the year of Kobe’s rape case and the height of his feud with Shaq because Kobe ratted out Shaq for sleeping around. N the over the hill groupies didn’t help.

People who just started to watch basketball in the 2000s should stop it before they make themselves look dumb. if your favourite players are superstars of today. don’t know players like Isiah Thomas, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, Clyde Dexter, and I could go on. should not have an opinion on a top 5 all time team

Yeah yeah, basketball used to be so much better, nowadays nobody hits a 15-footer, everybody wears their shorts too long, it’s raining a lot and my only joy in life is glorifying the days when everybody was dribbling one-handed, yadda yadda yadda….

The fact that you list Reggie Miller and Clyde Drexler shows that you’re a nostalgic joke. Lebron, Kobe, Shaq, Tim Duncan, all better players than Reggie and Clyde. And to think that one can’t start watching basketball in the 2000’s and learn about basketball before then through watching and reading makes you even more insane. Keep your old man logic out of here.

Like they won something yet the list is PEFECT and Heat will never be La Lakers of Boston they have to win 19 championships at least you think they can win 19 in a row i don’t think so. What a stupid coment they were beaten by maybe 2-3 ALL STARS.